


Deliver Us From Evil

by walkwithursus



Series: The Lord's Prayer [2]
Category: Ravenous (1999)
Genre: Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, M/M, Minor Injuries, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-10-15 03:44:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17521367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkwithursus/pseuds/walkwithursus





	1. Knowledge

Toffler’s left his Bible unattended in the parlor. It’s a strange occurrence considering how fiercely protective over it he is, and on impulse Reich picks it up and leafs through its silken pages. A red ribbon bookmarks a passage in Luke, where a verse has been underlined in soft pencil. 

_And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan,_  
_and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,_  
_Being forty days tempted of the devil._  
_And in those days he did eat nothing:_  
_and when they were ended, he afterward hungered._

Despite the close proximity of the fireplace a shiver travels down his spine. He reads the words over a second time, and as he does his thoughts drift to the half-starved preacher they’d rescued the night before and the harrowing tale he’d told of his survival. He wonders if Toffler were not thinking the same when he singled out this passage. 

Reich makes to close the book, but the sight of written hand gives him pause. There, at the very beginning is a list of names and dates, and with a jolt of discomfort he realizes that this is Toffler’s Family Bible. He should have known - the book is beautiful, bound in supple red leather and embossed with gold leaf. Not the sort of thing a man should be touting around on the daily, especially in the mud and snow. Just as Reich begins to wonder why it’s here in California and not at home on the Toffler family mantel, he spies a familiar line. 

At the very bottom in a small, neat hand is Private Toffler’s Christian name, along with his birthdate some three decades earlier. His is the only name without a date of death beside it. 

The weight of the book is suddenly much heavier in Reich’s hands. He replaces it on the table and vows never to touch it again.


	2. Kindness

They huddle together on the parlor sofa, face to face as Reich bandages Toffler’s bleeding hand. On the floor beside them lies a bottle of Knox’s whiskey, shattered and forgotten after an evening of passing back and forth between their clumsy fingers. The inebriated chaplain had cut himself trying to collect the shards of glass, and though his wound is small Reich had insisted upon administering First Aid. 

The completed dressing amounts to a criss-cross of clean white linen. Toffler flexes his fingers as Reich tucks the tail-end of the bandage into place, but does not immediately withdraw his hand. The touch lingers and they share a nervous smile. 

“You are s-so …so-”

“So what?” 

“K- ... _Kind_ to me,” Toffler manages after a beat. His bowed head does little to hide the flush spreading across his cheeks.

A rush of emotion swells within Reich’s chest - warmth, affection, desire. He inhales a breath before risking it all to place his lips gently against Toffler’s knuckles. Brown eyes widen in surprise.

“I can be even kinder,” Reich murmurs as he slowly, purposefully sinks to his knees at Toffler’s feet. The drink has made him bold, brash, and from waist-height he gazes up and licks his lips. “If you’ll let me.”


End file.
